THE JEWISH EN'CYCLOPEDIA
841 "Over Uratiismc"
"Ovit Klmira Rcformii-
in l^<97.
tory " UD(i "HcsclHiiiwiiiirin over dc VromvtnkHcstic" in 18!)K, ami "Ovii- < )iit(Hnkiiil)aarliei(l " in 1899. In 189H lie puMlslicd a vi)lume of collected essays upon eiiininal anthropoloiry. He is also known as a wiilcr of tietion, lieloncinp to tlic modern realistic school which has llonrishcd in Holland since IHHO. Besides a number of smaller con trihutions to"I)c Nieuwe Gids." the lirst monthly orpan of this school, lie has puhlished "L'it deii Dood." lM90;"Zusti-rH(rtlia." IWll " .Martha," 189"). and a vuliiiiie of short slcjries, ISUo. J. Vit.
Alessandria
Alexander the Oreat
at iiiiinals nf thirty days, one In thirty days [after (rlvinx Judriiinnll, annther thirty liu.ys thereafter, ami a third thirty davs laliT. If hi- ennies, well ; If Iii-iIih-s not emnc, wi- dii-lare
the
Jiidirinenton his pniperty llnal" iinniimn- H. K. p. Will).
Margoliot ("Pcne Moslieh " on Yer. Shel)ti. l.r.) maintains that lliis Alexa was a Babvloniiin anioni; Kraiikel ("Mibo." p (i4,(. on the authority of Rapoport in "Eiek Millin") considers him ';i Gentile .judge. 2. An amoni of the third geneiation (third fourth centuries), mentioned in the .Jerusalem Ver. Ket. v. 29i-). H. Jacob b. Aha reportsa Halakah in Ale.xa's name, tninsmitled bv ili/.kiah(b. Hiyya Hoba). He is probably identical with R. Alexandri H. .s. >[. iiMil
Talmud
(
"
ALEX, EPHRAIM:
Founder of the Jewish Board of (Juardians. London: born in Cheltenham 18(H); died in London. Nov. 13. 1883. He was a sue cessful l)usine.ss man, which fact cminenlly litted Inni for the ;;reat cliaritat)le work to w hich he chietly de voted his attention
— that
connected with the well of (iuardians in I,on<lon. To his ingeniiily were due the praelical slejis which led up to tin- estal)lishm<Tit of that institution; and to Ills zeal and i)ublic spirit, which he imparted to the
known Jewish Board
community, were due ])orfect orjianizalion.
nijiid development sniriicslion had indeed
and
its .
been
made
as early as 181)2 by Joshua Van Oven to re place the loose and imperfect arranj,'eruent between the three German synafro.irues by a detinitc board of (guardians forthe Jewish ]>iior. This su!,'gestion was, however, lost siijlit of until 18,")8, when Ale. was overseer of the Great Synagogue, and he became impressed with the in,ide(|uacy of the system for out door charity then prevailing. He ventilated the subject energetically before his own council and vestry as well as on variiuis public occasions. In February. ls.")<,». he issuiil a circular proposing "a scheme for a Ixiard of guardians for the relief of the necessitous foreign poor." This scheme exhib ited a great insight into the needs of the jioor. as well as a compreliensive iilca of the machinery uecessiiry ade(|uately to relieve them. The keynote of the circular and scheme was organi/ation, and the subse(|ueiil di-velnpmi'iit of the board has been strictly on the linis of Ali x's original concepticm. He was not a man of conunan<ling intellect, but he p()s.ses.sed a genial and tactful disposition which attracted young men to the undertaking. He was the first president of the board, over which he continued to preside till IS(ii). when his physical infirmities compclleil his relinnient as a member of the board, however, he continued to lake part in its deliberations till the year of his <leath. He was also a life niemlurof theCouncil nf the United Synagogue, and a member of thel'onunitteeof the Jews' Hospital
in .Mile
End.
BlBLIOORAPIir
Jew. CImiii. und Jew.
ll'i.rM,
Nov.
IT, 1882.
G. L.
ALEXA
LEXA)
(or 1. .V foreign jurist of the third ceiiiury. win. cliscnsscd with the Palestinian amont K Mana H. Ibi' (piestion cif collecting disputed di'bis in iIh' absence of the diblor. as practised under till' ndibinic law in I'alisline and under tin' law of his own <-ounlry. The conversalion is preserved in
two somewhat mutilated versions Y<'r. Ket. i.x. 83A, Yer. Shebu. vii. ;!s<M. and it reails as follows: "Wipxn: Wo iM'tliT Ihan ynn. Wi> enter JmlimiPnl ami (
(III
If tile ilehliir
we annul
the
the Jiiilifinrnt "11 his |ini|K'nv. Hive niillif tlin.uifli 111!' piililli-
Maim; Wr 1
rl.r
f..r
MKliiliiriiiiilTliiinKliiyor eai'li wih'K. v<' H. K.
pnirx
ln'fiin'
—
ivimes mill illHpnivi'i the eliilni, well nml (fimil Jii(l>;iiient tuu tf In- itmfi iioi rnnie, we iiinnnii
till-
niiirt, itiHiil; iiihiTwUi-
«r
llkrwlw. We ihirlv iliiys [rvrrv iln
|i.
Il:tii|
riinnnii
If till'
lirn|>jiiilK-
Hut hii|i|iiim< he l.s fur uwav, unil falh Ui hear nf tin- nollif In lime 1.. alli.w nf hH iip|ii>arlnir within the thirty days ? M.; We semi after hliii Ihni- milli.-s ini'iit
nil
his iimiiiTlv.
..:
ALEXANDER THE GREAT:
The celebnited the ICast. :i."ii;-:i->:{ i-.c. By introducinir Hellenic culture iiilo.Syria and Egypt! he had probably more iiillnence on the development of Judaism Uian any one individual not a Jew by nice. Yet. curiously enough, there are no personal details which connect him with .Iewi,sli history, except that iifter the siegeof Tyre, 332 M.c, he inarched througli Palestine unopposed, except in the case of Gaza, which was razed to the ground. He is mentioned by niime only in the Apocryphal I .Mace. (i. I-S. vi. It is supposed that the Book of Daniel alludes 2). to .Mexander when it refers to a mighty king that "shall stand up. that shall rule with great dominion." whose kingdom shall be destroyed after his death (Dan. xi. 3). The vision of the "fourth beast, dreadful jind terrible, and strong exceedingly," devouring and breaking all in pieces (i/jid. vii. 7), may also be an allusion to Alexander I. B. ciiiii|iii-inr lit
The only
historical event
conncctiDg Alexander
the (treat with the Jews is his visit to Jerusalem, which is recorded by Josepliiis in a somewhat fan-
manner. According to "Ant." xi. s, ^^ -1-6, .VIcxander went to Jerusjilem after having taken Gaza. Jaddiia. the high |)riest. had a warniug from God receiveil in a dream, in which he saw him self vested in a purple robe, with his miter that had the golden phile on which the name of ('<(m was engraved on his head. Accordingly he went to meet .Vlcxandirat .S.iphii ("View " [of the Temple]). Followed by the priests, all clothed in tine linen, and by a multitude of citizens, Jadduaawaited the coming of the king. When Alexander saw the high priest, he reverenced God (Lev. R. xiii., end), and sainted Jaddiia; while the .lews with one voice greeted AleXiiiidcr. When Parmenio. the general, gave expression to the army's surprise at Alexander's extraordinaiy act that one who ought to be adored by all as king should adore the high priest of the .lews— .VIcxander replied: " I did not adonhim. but the (ioil who hath honored him with this high-|uiesiliood for I saw lliis very person in a dream, in this veiv habit, when I was at Dios in Maceilonia. who. when I was considering with myself how I might obtain dominion of Asia, exhortetl me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea, promising that he would conduct my army, and would give me llie ilominion over the I'ersians." .Mexander Ihcn gave the high priest his right hand, and went iiilo the Temple and "olTei-ed sjicrilice to (tod according to the high priest's direction." treating the whole priest IioimI niagnilicenlly. "And when the B<iok of Daniel was shown him [s»'e Dan. vii. (1, viii. r,-H, 20-'-'2. xi. 3-4). wh.rein Daniel declami tastic
—
—
—
that one of the Gn^eks [p' "l^Ol should destroy Ihe empire of the Persians, he supposed that he was
person inleiided. and n-joiced thennl. The following day .VIcxander asked Ihe people what favors he should grant Iheiii; and, at the high l>riest's reqiiesl, he uccurdetl them the right to live the
